The present invention relates to apparatus for attaching adhesive-coated sheets to brick-shaped, block-shaped or similarly configurated commodities, especially for applying adhesive-coated labels to packs which contain cigarettes or other smokers' articles. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for applying adhesive-coated labels or other types of adherent sheet-like products to cigarette packs or similar commodities while the commodities move through a labelling or attaching station.
It is already known to employ a first conveyor system which advances cigarette packs through a labelling station, and to resort to a second conveyor system which delivers adhesive-coated sheets to successive packs at the labelling station. The sheets may constitute elongated ribbons which are used to seal the respective ends of packs and/or customary revenue labels which must be applied to packs prior to shipment of packs to customers or into storage. A drawback of presently known labelling apparatus is that they are relatively slow, especially if each and every label is to be applied in a predetermined orientation. In other words, presently known labelling apparatus cause a pronounced reduction of the output of a complete production line, e.g., a production line wherein one or more cigarette makers turn out plain cigarettes, one or more makers turn out filter plugs, one or more filter tipping machines assemble filter plugs with plain cigarettes to form filter cigarettes, one or more packing machines assemble arrays of filter cigarettes and insert such arrays into discrete packs, and one or more labelling apparatus attach labels to successive packs prior to introduction of packs into cartons or other types of receptacles. If the speed of presently known labelling apparatus is increased, improperly applied labels detract from the eye-pleasing appearance of the ultimate products. In many instances, the manner in which the labels are applied is so unsatisfactory that the respective packs must be discarded. As a rule, the labels will lie askew if the speed of a conventional labelling apparatus is increased to that at which the apparatus processes the output of a modern high-speed packing machine.